3 Largemouth Bass Observations
It was gorgeous weather on the last day of May and a great day to go fishing. I wish I would have started a bit earlier in the day to take full advantage. During the little fishing time I had that day, I made a few largemouth bass observations from the ones I caught and the ones I was attempting to catch.
Observation #1: Large Lures Also Catch Small Fish
You’d be surprised how small of a fish you can catch on a larger lure. I was using a Scum Frog® that afternoon and I caught a bass that I would estimate was less than half a pound. As you can see in the picture above, the lure barely fit into the fish’s mouth. Larger lures typically catch larger fish, but they can also catch smaller ones too.
Observation #2: Bass are Aggressive, but Finicky
There was one bass I was after that was aggressive at first, then she backed off for quite awhile. I found a female bass on a bed and decided to go after her with a artificial worm on a shaky head. The first worm I used was a floating worm and had a lot of action. As I pulled the lure through the strike zone, she attacked it immediately. The hook never reach her mouth, so when I set the hook, she bit off a good part of the worm.
I put on a different worm and pulled it through her strike zone, danced it on her bed and repeated the process for a good 15 minutes until she finally attacked it again. I finally landed her as shown in the pictures above.
Observation #3: Bass Do Not Stay in the Same Place
The weekend before (05/24/2014), I had marked about 5 or 6 bedding bass in about a 50 yard stretch of the Ohio Erie Canal. I spent a good part of my day mentally noting their position along the stretch, physically marking them with sticks and going after them, trying to determine what they were hungry for. This past weekend, I went to the same spots and only saw one bass along that same stretch. I could no longer find the monsters that I marked the weekend before.
This could be because of the weather change, the current weather, the fact that the water was below the normal depth, or simply because they were done spawning and have moved on. Either way, never assume that fish that you mark one day will be on the same spot in the future.
Catch Data
| Date | Saturday, May 31, 2014 |
| Species | Largemouth Bass |
| Lure | plastic worm on a shaky head |
| Air Temperature | 79°F |
| Water Clarity | Clear |
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Location: Ohio Erie Canal south of Wilbeth Road |
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